For the second consecutive year, the Smyrna girls indoor track team traveled a long distance, but came home victorious, with the Henlopen Conference championship trophy. The boys’ team, meanwhile, showed dramatic improvement over the 2013 season and finished a strong third place. Coach Maura Schaffer said she was absolutely delighted in the final outcome for both teams. “Our girls worked very hard this year, and we had a lot of new runners, but it was great to see when they posted the finals numbers and we had won the championship,” she said. “I am equally proud of the boys, who also worked very hard and their hard work paid off with a dramatic third place finish. I think this is the start of something good for the boys,” she added.

Schaffer said she was surprised at how well-rounded the team I becoming. “We’re now scoring multiple points in every single event. There wasn’t an event where we didn’t score multiple points in, and you have to be well rounded to win a state championship,” she said.

Senior Raven Luckett was the top scorer for the Lady Eagles. “It was extremely exciting, and lots of fun this year working with the new girls on the team. This is my fourth year here, so it’s been bittersweet,” said Luckett,

“But I’m glad I have one more season in the spring to do it all over again.” Luckett, who’s headed to the University of Delaware in the fall, said there’s lots of competition, but that helps get everyone ready for the post season tournaments.

Senior Tori Vickers said it feels good to win back-to-back conference titles. “We put in a lot of hard work all year, so it really paid off. There was lots of competition, but as a senior you learn to handle it better and also help our younger teammates,” she said. Vickers said she hope the team continues its success into the spring season and be successful in the conference and state competitions.

Schaffer said the growth of the boys’ team was a gratifying experience to witness.

“It was really wonderful, a really exciting moment to be up on the medal stand,” said junior Gabe Mojica, “It was great to see the team work together, and that’s what helped us improve over last year.” Mojica ran in the 800 meter run, the one-mile run and the two-mile run.

“Again, it is a great feeling to see the team improve, and build some momentum for the upcoming spring outdoor track season. We hope to be in the top three for the spring season in the conference, we’re shooting for first place, and that would be great. And then for the states, a realistic expectation is we hope to be in the top three or the top five,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - Like everyone else, Mojica said he’s hoping for a break in the weather, to get outside and get in some full workouts.